One Man's Fire, Another Man's Hell
by Deadaleta
Summary: Agony. Suffering. Numbness. Is that all there is to my life? I have become a walking bad omen. I bring with me a torrent of sorrow and anguish. It wouldn't matter if I were happy, but... Perhaps, someday. I doubt the Goddesses would grant me such a merciful fate. Perhaps I have become too much of a monster in my Hell. M. Not a Yaoi. May have happy stuffs... much, much later.


**Holy crap, Author's Notes will be the death of me. And this fic. The fic'll kill me first.**

**M for gore, blood, angst, insanity, NO extreme sexual themes(I apologize, yaoi fans, have some gummybears. My dad has too many DX), mild to typical teenage cursing, possibly more. Most likely more. You've been warned.**

**ALL THE ANGST**

**The first time I showed this to the public, I couldn't even look at it! It was when I was, like, twelve, but still. At least I'll be able to see this without cringing. Or crying.**

**For those of you who are waiting for an update from me in any of my other fics, well... Don't get your hopes up that it will be any time soon. Sorry... I'm just in a tight situation. I've been bedridden all winter, too sick to do anything, and then had a buttload of homework to try to catch up on!**

**And then I transferred schools.**

**Had to babysit a rat-dog.**

**Et cetera.**

**I cringe just thinking about it. No offense to people who like Chihuahuas... I don't. *shiver***

**Well, hopefully this will be better than the last time I posted this... Then again, it can't be much worse. Urgh, many errors, changes and corrections await.**

**This is "One Man's Fire, Another Man's Hell". I was going to rename it, but... Well, then my brain fried. Oh well. I changed "torture" to "hell", though that doesn't make much difference.**

**Tell me what you think. If you have seen the abomination when it was first released-again, cringe-tell me how I improved and how I can furthur improve, please. If you even remember the old thing... Old, suckish thing.**

**Hopefully you'll enjoy, but this was such a monster it was hard to edit it into something greater. That, and I'm not exactly the greatest writer out there. *sulks***

**II-II-II-II-II**

For the first time, I am scared of something. I am scared of torture. I am scared of eternal suffering. I am scared...

... of fire.

I had never before been so scared of something in my entire life besides that one burning orange and red mass of heat. This thing, this creation of hell, had emotionally scarred me for life. With good reason, too.

I have been trapped in it for most of my days. I couldn't escape. I was only in my childhood years, the same age as _you _were. I was alone, lost, in pain, it was so hot and terrible I wanted to just curl in a ball, cry, and then die after I had finished.

I couldn't even do that. I couldn't cry because it was far too hot and it would evaporate my tears before they'd even been shed. I couldn't get damaged because I am immune to heat damage. A mysterious magic protected me. Magic drawn from the dark essence that I pulled onto my being at the last second, with the help of those dear to me... It was their sacrifice that saved me, heaven knows why they did not use it for themselves...

I couldn't get out, for the surface of this liquid fire had already been sealed. It was cooled quickly by the northern winds that swiftly drifted south. The same winds that were once a refreshing breeze as I stood upon that cliff and felt it swim around me...

It became my seal of fate, cursing me injustly into this pit of magma. There was not a single crack, surprisingly. It went on and on and on, until it hit a solid wall, giving me even less chance to escape. The lava that tortured me had no affect on the people on the surface-at least, I didn't think so. No one else I knew survived when this horrible event took place, as far as I know...

I lost my mother, my father, and my older sister, the ones who sacrificed their lives to save my own. They had gathered their energy and turned it into a protective dark shield that covered my skin in a dusty gray color. I lost my best friend, my home, and all aquaintances to the catastrophe and my memories couldn't sooth the pain I was feeling. The heat bit at my skin like a pack of starving wolves, no, worse than that. It stung like the most deadly of acids, greedily trying to seep into my skin and rest within it, trying to deteriorate it quickly... but failing. Pain became the main focus of everything... All of my senses were deluded by this.

Soon there were not even memories; just pain. Endless, cruel, heated pain, with no rage. No, grief ruled my mind. Alas, there was no shoulder to cry on. No hugs to be shared. No one to remember me. Inside I was screaming in pain, begging for comfort, and crying from loneliness.

How I could even breath, let alone hear myself speak, was a mystery, so I believed that it was the darkness that shielded me that granted me my breath, as well. After all, when hiding and blending in with the shadows, how would you be able to breath otherwise? Of course, my screams were in vain as I groped for the surface, falling fast into what should have been darkness, but instead was a bright, burning orange.

After a while, I was reduced to silently crying out. Not like if you are saying a prayer in your room. My voice was unheard, but my breath was audible. It sounded like the wind was pleading for arms to hold it, the wind was screaming. That was me. I was loud, but my voice unused. Like a hurricane with words being tossed and turned and tortured, spinning around and around and around...

My throat was sore. That's all I could remember thinking, eventually. Oh, how painful everything is.

This continued for years. I never figured out how many, but I knew that I had aged. Somehow, sowmeway, I grew, defying death and mortality. My race was one that was constantly shoulder to shoulder with death. Yet, we never touched.

Until that day. That horrible day... Days, weeks, months. Years.

All time... It all blended together in one foggy, disoriented mess. Seconds and decades did not matter.

Heat. Unending, searing heat. It consumed me, it became my air, my earth, my water, my _prison._

And I was a victim, falsely accused. Waiting. I was waiting for death, impatient as I was for it to come in my state.

As time slowly inched by around me, the magma as still as I was, I realised that I couldn't feel anymore. The pain of the heat had numbed me to my core, and the grief had faded with my memories. Memories...

I remembered having parents. A sister. A family... I remembered the color of their hair, the size of their eyes... I could list off every feature about them. But somehow, I couldn't picture it. It was like a puzzle-I had a general idea of what it was supposed to be, but it never came together. It was too foggy... Too broken.

Their faces looked the same when I tried to picture them. Each one, androgynous... Not what they were supposed to be. My father, he was a gruff man, was he not? He had sharp, definitive and yet masculinely bulky features, but I cannot think of him. The memory of what he was was long forgotten, replaced by an unknown figure without a face.

Without a face. Yes, for some reason, I could never think of them and picture them having a face, just as I couldn't picture their individual features. They lacked eyes, and their nose looked fake-like one on a mask. Their mouths were thin, with no pink or tan skin, like a mannequin.

Pale. They were pale, ghostly white. They weren't supposed to be that white. Like death.

Cold, bloodless. Why were they such a cold shade? Why had I pictured them as such? They died the same way I was supposed to, drowning in a lake of fire.

I supposed it's because I wanted to look like that. I wanted to look cold, to be lifeless. I wanted to be dead... For the longest time, I wanted to be dead.

But I didn't die, so I tried to remember them. I held on to the memory of their existance for so long...

I couldn't remember their names. I tried and tried for the longest time...

Nothing came. Nothing. Not a single syllable, vowel... Nothing.

I always heard a voice when I tried to remember their names. A whisper, a memory. Me, calling out to them, or them calling out to me. I never knew why. It was a different setting each time, and I was always running around or in their direction.

I must've been a playful boy then. I couldn't remember, and I still fail to recall. Their names... I never found out what they were. Their calls, whether cheerful, worried, fearful, angry, or otherwise, failed to completely register.

Do you know what it's like? What that hell was like... To live in a completely unaware state, to no longer feel, to no longer see, no longer smell, no longer remember... To try to bring back even the smallest of memories for years on end, yet fail in the end? To only have more questions brew in the depths of your soul?

And have one of these questions suddenly cut through the barrier of my seemingly comatose state?

One question. One single, simple question. One that had, for some reason, startled me into lucidity.

And for some reason, this was the only one the Goddesses answered immediatly.

_'Will I live?'_

And then my eyes became pained at a shock of light bursting through the hardening liquid rock. Light.

_White _light.

And then, a shadow, looming over me...

_"A boy? In... ... ... Hmm... So the Goddesses wish to give me the first move? Very well. I will accept this... _gift._"_

He was scavaging the lands-for what, I had not known. In fact, there was most likely not another being alive aside from him who had known. Not even the treasured Goddesses above, I do believe. Whatever he was climbing the mountains for, whatever he was digging through, he most certainly did not expect me. He must've gotten whatever he sought, for he was not displeased to find me.

In his searchings, he had mistakenly freed me. He never regretted it, though. For him, it was not a mistake. I regretted wishing for freedom in an instant, however.

I was released by the man I hate most. The man who betrayed everything and everyone for the sake of power. Being trapped under that rock and lava wasn't as bad as being targeted by him. At least then, I might as well have been a sleeping baby, my senses were so far gone.

Being by his side made me want to die more, for my life was torture. Torture that I could register. Torture that made me _feel._ To feel something... The very thought became my worst enemy.

The magma never killed me. The magma put me to sleep after it showed me its most horrendous nightmare. The liquid fire that gave people who feared it distress in their sleep became my blanket.

This man... He was the embodiment of nightmares. Hellfire roared in his eyes. The screams of the lost souls venturing the underworld turned into crazed, maniacle hysterics as he laughed. The blood of the innocent and the guilty ran through his veins, leaking right through his fingertips.

And those fingers squeezed the blood out of each of his victims, drop by drop.

And I became one of a very select few to personally escort them to him...

Or to do it myself.

Some of the dark essence my family had given me, ridding themselves of their existance in that moment to preserve my life, still remained. The same was said for the power that was already within my blood. It was weakened, but it held steadfast, and whatever this man did to me would not kill me.

This only pleased him.

He gave me orders, cruel ones to handle on my own, when he knew my mind was not fit for this sort of thing... All of the screams that I heard that ripped through the air, piercing the roaring of bloodthirsty beasts...

After he had conquered your land, Hyrule, and had found me, he had returned to the desert. When I arrived with him, the heat had not affected me. In fact, I found it to be cool-refreshing, even. Not even the natives of the land were as adapted to the sun as I. I found my sweat to be unnecessary. If anything, it was a burden, sand sticking to me whenever the wind was particularly strong. And yet, despite my ability to withstand the arid climate, I was only forced to do one thing.

I was his executioner. His slave of torture. Overall, I dealt out punishments... The harshest of them, even ones worse than death. This was my test of loyalty... No, not a test of loyalty. He knew that I was never loyal to him. This was meant to break and mold me into his creation.

His executioners had to kill by... foul means, in front of hundreds of jeering faces. Each that I had wanted to throw onto that wooden slab and... Just... _Rip to pieces._

But those were monsters. Not humans. It wouldn't make a difference if I did so to them, and even if they were actual people... Back then, I didn't have the heart. No, I had a foolishly merciful heart, just like yours. Do not get me wrong, though. I'm not a monster. In many ways, I still do have my heart. In pieces, but remaining.

**II-II-01-II-II**

It has been months since Link started looking for the sages. Almost five since he's started his quest. Well, five in his perspective. Seven years plus in reality.

And for the better half of the fourth month, Link has been trying to solve the water temple, a sacred place to the zoras, where they would pray and swim their sins away...

The young man would walk, swim, dive, dash, run, and jump through the temple, raise and lower the water dozens of times, forget which room he was in and which room had what in it, and go through the same rooms aimlessly searching for that next damned key. He would spend three days at a time in the temple, leave and recover, come back, repeat.

And it was pitiful.

Ever since I started working under Ganondorf's hand, I showed immense promise of being a warrior, and became one that none could compare to. Not even a veteran could best me, even without my power to bend the shadows to my will. I had the most skill in swordsmanship out of all of his slaves, knights, and assasins. I was capable of intelligence and self-awareness, unlike the monsters Ganondorf conjured, which had few skills at all. They just swung their sword horizontally and paid attention only to what was in front of them, becoming easy kills for Goddess Farore's chosen.

My brow scrunched in displeasure at the thought of the so-called merciful mother of the world, but I banished these unwanted thoughts from my mind.

Ganondorf made this temple-which I considered to be my new home-much more puzzeling than the zoras already did, so when Link finally faced me he'd be exausted, and I'd have the upper hand in case I was at risk of failing like most of his creations. I could do more and focus more than the hero. Constant training, out of boredom or purpose, had helped immensely in all of my skills.

Not to mention I had the shadows on my side, that of which were everywhere. I could probably take him down without question, if only he weren't the hero. I've been told heroes have incredible luck and a talent for escaping certain death.

But right now I pity him.

His reaction time has gotten much quicker over experience, but even slower than that from exaustion. He goes through here and almost throws his blade out of his hand trying to swing it, his grip has slacked so much. He can barely even lift his bow and arrows out of his pouch. He doesn't even have enough energy to sheath his sword, only sloppily swing his whole body with it, managing to raise the sword just above his waist, barely enough to defeat his foes. He put his shield on his back a long time ago, no longer able to carry the heavy thing.

He will have gone through all this work, only to be killed by a being that might as well be his counterpart. And even though he's been through this much, he _smiles_. He constantly thanks his fairy for advice, and greets the creepy zora lady that's been hanging around here for some time with a big, bright, sloppy grin.

I must admit, I'm jealous of him, despite his apparent stupidity... Able to smile so easily, born with so many people around him and probably not losing a single one either... I wouldn't know, however. Maybe he is an excellent liar...

But to smile and laugh through water-logged exhaustion? To display joy when in the presence of death? What an unbelievable sight...

A flash of black hair and emerald eyes encompass my mind's eye but for a single moment. I close my eyes, willing memories I've tried to abandon away. Shaking my head, I gaze on.

He's finally close... He's at the rising platforms on the waterfall right outside of the room next to my own room of illusion...

I breath in the fresh scented air, the smell of great amounts of water-like rain, or an ocean shore... Very refreshing. My mind becomes clear, and I prepare myself. I'm closer to my freedom...

**II-II-**_**Link**_**-II-II**

I'm beat, my legs hurt, my arms hurt, my head hurts, my brain hurts, my back hurts, my fingers are cramped, my feet hurt, my butt hurts-stupid slippery high places, every part of my body freaking ACHES, not to mention I'm freezing cold and soaking wet. If I don't get out of here soon, I'm going to lose a toe or two.

And, of course, in front of me is a large waterfall with many platforms sinking. With a sigh, I examine the peculiar place, planning before I make my next move so I don't fall into a bottomless pit.

Looking at the platforms with dread, I notice they have targets I can hook onto. Unfortunately, I am so tired that I can barely dig into my pouch. "Navi... here's a question I bet parents hate to be asked on road trips... _are we there yet_?"

"Sorry, Link. This room and one after that and we'll only be halfway through, but let's hope the second half won't be as bad as the first!" My high-pitched flying friend attempts to cheer me on. I want to groan, but I hold it in for her sake. At least she is doing her best.

Awkwardly quirking my lips up in a weary, dreadful smile, I dig around in my pouch. Despite her common bursts of pointless tips and her relatively irritating voice, without her I'd probably have gone insane on this journey...

I lazilly point my not-long-enough hookshot towards the targets. My arms feel like lead weights, dragging me down along with everything else. I stay as strong as I can. One after another, after another, 'til I climb on the ledge, muscles abolutely _screaming _from the strain-and I wanted to scream with them.

I slowly stand up, but not without hearing several joints in my body give a loud '_snap'. _I stretched, causing even more of the sickening sound to vibrate and echo across the walls. I sigh as I feel a small amount of relief rush through me in an instant. A small instant, but one I am grateful for nontheless.

Looking up, I sigh once again as there is yet another door with no signature "boss lock" on it. Of course, I knew it would not be here-the map said so, and so far, it's always been right. But with every blank, cookie-cut door I see, there is less motivation to continue moving on.

I have to be done with this as quickly as possible. There's no other option for me.

I walk through the door and do what I must here with the draconic statues. Strangely enough, they raise and lower the water level like a complex fountain every time I hit the diamond in the center of the room.

My legs almost give way as I jump from statue to statue, and a couple of times they did, forcing me to start once again. I tremble in my skin, feeling the pins and needles sensation in my numbing appendages. I'm almost to the door when I feel my lids drop, but Navi's voice jolts me awake as she warns me of yet another tek-tite.

I absent mindedly wonder how dragons have played a part in the zoran lore and history, and how the diamonds could possibly trigger some sort of reaction to make things go up or down. Strange mechanics that I will never understand. The ancients that built the temples must have been _geniuses..._

'_So many monsters, such a pain... Agh, at least they are easy to be done with, unlike this blasted..! No, I shouldn't curse this temple, it is sacred ground.' _

And yet, I want nothing more than for it to collapse around me and for the water sage to appear from nowhere as I tredge through more of the clear liquid-no, I'm not walking around water. My legs are just wanting to give way... I can feel them shaking much more than they ever have before, even during the cold nights of winter, stuck in my treehouse with thin blankets. It's almost as if they want to be a part of the ground, they are so drawn to it.

I shoot the like-like after killing two more tek-tites with my arrows, and hookshot my way over the spikes, almost falling on top of them as my grip loosens. I bend over, my hands on my knees and my breath coming out rugged and harsh.

'_Three days at a time I've spent in here... Don't remember when I finished the last temple anymore. So... much... water... I wonder how many people it would take to drink it all...' _I look at the lowering platforms and think about all of the other contraptions in here. _'Maybe the reason why those crystals activate when I hit them is because the vibrations course through them and a little button thing in it...' _

I continue to think random, scattered thoughts for a while now, not even noticing the passage of time until Navi squeaks a 'hey' at me and flies in my face, trying and succeeding to gain my attention. Shocked, I instinctively fly my hand up and swat her away, and she hits the nearest wall with a little yelp.

She slowly slides down the wall, almost saddeningly, before a comical '_pop'_ is heard and she splats face first onto the floor. I smile sheepishly as one of her wings twitches sporadically. I can almost see a blood vein popping on her... If she has blood...

... Hahh... To think that I'm so tired that I'd get dreadfully lost on my train of thought and end up contemplating things such as why different fruits exist-yes, it did actually come to that-and then attack my friend like she's a bothersome fly or keese.

I sigh, feeling overwhelmed once again, and before Navi has a chance to bicker and scold I hold up my hand. It's a shaky gesture, depressingly weak. She stops in her tracks, seeing my eyes glazed over and my head lowered immensely.

"Link..?" She flutters over to me, uneasy.

"Navi, sorry, I was... lost in thought... Hrrm, I'm going to take a breather right now... I'm really tired," I pant, now sitting against a wall and running a hand through my hair. I really did feel bad, but, I'm just so _tired..._

She doesn't say anything, but slowly bobs up and down in the air. With a magical chime, she glides under my zoran hat, still silently understanding. I sigh in satisfaction, wondering if fairies get tired. She was always a little ball of energy... Literally and figuratively.

I lay down while Navi settles on my head. I try to stay awake as my breathing slows, but it's been so long since I have slept. I soon succumb to slumber, too tired to move anymore, and soon enough my partner does the same.

_'Thanks Navi...'_

**II-II-**_**Unnamed**_**-II-II**

I watch him sleep soundly in front of the door to the illusionary room. His chest rises and falls in a steady, calming rythm, and he seems so peaceful. Every now and then he changes position, his golden hair falling in front of his face. '_He seems pleasant,' _I think to myself. '_Ganondorf wants me to kill him..? But why kill something that is pleasing, if not by being around it then at least to look at? Hm... strange... I would've thought he'd want someone such as him as a slave... But, I will fight him if he does not die in his sleep or soon after...'_

I jump down from the dead charcoal tree in the middle of the room. I look down at the water, a portal showing me Link fading out. I step in it and it disappears completely, rippling away with the frothy water. I sigh and walk to the other side of the room and open the door, and to my left is the blond hero, softly snoring. I bend over, examining him. I poked him a couple of times-he looked beyond dead, I had to make sure-and he just shifted slightly.

Ganondorf never did specify why I should kill him, but instead to just do as told. I obeyed, but... Oh, I'm so curious. It may be the death of me, but...

_'I guess I'll just bring him in_...'

I gently pick him up bridal style, just to be sure he doesn't wake up just yet. I had plenty of questions for him.

I walk through the door into the room where I am to fight this person. The Mirror Chamber... Room of Illusion... What have you. As a being that controlled darkness, I could do the same for light. After all, for there to be darkness, there has to be an absence of light, otherwise it would just kill the other. So, in this plain room, I bended the light to create an illusion.

Mist covers the room and seems to go on forever, white in color. The ground, instead of soil, grass, or tiles, is water that, though you can walk through it, does not seem to have a bottom. In the middle of the room is a little island covered in white sand, and in the center of the small hill a deceased tree, completely black in color. Not as great as the ones in the southern forest, but a decent size nontheless.

I calmly move over to the center of the room, feet sloshing against the fake water, and set him against the tree. I bend over, touching his face... A pale blue...

'_No wonder why he's still shaking as he sleeps, he's cold as ice...'_ I look back down at him with pity. '_He has spent all this time in the temple, used every last ounce of energy he had, and is freezing... If I don't kill him, he'll die on his own eventually anyway...' _My mouth pulls downward at the familiarity of the situation. To kill one and end their suffering, or to let them rot away within themselves? I shake my head. Instead of contemplating his life span, I think of what to do while he is alseep, but I cannot come up with anything useful. Shrugging, I climb the tree, sink within it and rest in the shadows of its branches...

**II-II-01-II-II**

**Well, here it is, to let you know I'm working on it. Hot dang. I'm not going to be able to update much, though... School's a bi... *mom walks in*... gger nuisance than it needs to be... Ugh, it's necessary, though. Stupid academic needs.**

**Oh my gah... This **_**thing**_** was a **_**monster **_**when I first released it! I was literally about to cry at how horrible it was.**

**See that sweet little box down there? The "post review" button beneath it? Go on, criticize, I need tips. Desperately.**


End file.
